The Covenant Trumps Everything

It is always so great when you read something in the Word of God that encourages you to keep focused on Him instead of your circumstances.  Recently, as we were reading with our kids in the book of Exodus, for school, we ran across some Scripture that reinforced the fact that God sides with the Covenant.  If you have a Bible, you should get it out to follow along and read for yourself.

As you may well know by now, we believe and take great comfort in the fact that God always sides with the Covenant.  It does not matter what the Covenant references.  He always will support, honor, defend, and remember His Covenant.  When God makes a Covenant with His people He does so knowing the full ramifications of His doing so.  He knows that we may fall short of upholding the Covenant.  He knows that we will forsake the terms of the Covenant.  He knows that we may not always honor the Covenant.  But He ALWAYS will remember His Covenant.  Even if it seems to us that it would be easier to negate the full terms of it and allow it to be forgotten.  He honors His Word that He swore in the Covenant.

Exodus 6 is the beginning of the story of when God has Moses lead the children of Israel out of Egypt.  There is some very interesting wording that is used in this passage.  In verse 4 it says, "I reaffirmed my Covenant with them."  What Covenant was God referring to?  The one that He made with Abraham MANY years before.  He had sworn in that Covenant that He would give Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan.  God did not need reminding of His Covenant.  Verse 5 says the He heard the groans of Israel and was well aware of the Covenant.  The Covenant was still the foremost thought in the mind of God even though it was over 400 years that Israel had been in Egypt.

Israel could not understand that God had promised them land of Canaan but they were stuck as slaves in Egypt.  They could not see the fulfillment of the Covenant because of the situation that they were in.  In verse 9 it says that Israel had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.  However, their situation (being slave in Egypt) or the brutality of it did not negate or detract from the terms of the Covenant.  God was still going to honor the covenant and bring them into that promised land.

Whats does this mean for us?  It means that in spite of the horrible situations that we find ourselves in our marriages that God has not forgotten the Covenant.  It means that in the midst of the brutality of our current circumstances that God's marriage Covenant is still His foremost thought towards us.  It means that although our marriage may look like Egypt, He is taking us from Egypt into Canaan, the land of promise.  Do NOT misread this and think that we are advocating you leaving your spouse in order to find a new relationship to get into or that we are suggesting that your marriage is not the promised land and you need to be waiting for a new marriage.  What we are saying is this: God has not forgotten His Covenant between Himself, you, and your spouse!  He remembers it in its fullness and is currently working to accomplish all of it.  Even though your circumstances may cause you to doubt His ability to accomplish it, He will still do it.  Why?  Because God CANNOT lie.  If He lied even once all of creation would crumble because everything that is was formed by His Word.  Therefore, the words that He spoke when the three of you (you, your spouse, and God Almighty) joined into the marital Covenant MUST be accomplished.

What we must realize and what the enemy of our souls (aka the Devil) wants us to forget is this: the Covenant trumps everything!  The power of Covenant does not reside with the weakest of participants and, as a result, easily broken.  The power of the Covenant comes from the most powerful of participants and, as a result can only be broken by one more powerful that He.  All lies are subject to the truth of the Covenant.  All disobedience is corrected by the honoring of the Covenant.  All other ties are broken by the binding of the Covenant.  The Devil knows that the Covenant is  binding agreement.  He knows that he has no legal ground upon which to stand.  He knows all of this and wants you to forget it.  However, it does not matter if you forget or have moments of doubt; the Lord is well aware of His Covenant.  He remembers it.  He honors it.  He defends it.  Even at our weakest moments, and when we cannot see the Covenant because of the brutality of the situation, He is still powerful and is remembering His sworn Covenant.

You may feel like you are in Egypt: a hopeless house of bondage from which you cannot escape the pain of. It may look like there is nothing good that can come from this situation.  But do NOT stop standing.  You don't have to advance the Covenant; you just have to hold on to it.  He will do bring in the fullness of the Covenant.

It may feel like Pharaoh (the Devil) is not allowing the Covenant to come to pass.  But, do not forget what Exodus 6 says.  Verse 1 says, "When he (Pharaoh) feels the force of My strong hand, he will let the people go.  In fact, he will force them to leave his land."  And in verse 6 is the promise, "I am the Lord.  I will free you from your oppression and will rescue from you from your slavery in Egypt.  I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment."

All we have to do is stand, friend.  Don't give up.  Take comfort in the fact that He remembers the Covenant and is actively working to cause it to happen...even if we can't see it at the moment.  The Covenant trumps EVERYTHING!!  The Covenant never loses!!  The Covenant is never lost!!

Josh and Serena

I am tired...

I pray that the Lord will give me the words for you. I cry because I know your pain.

I learned the lesson early on and learned to not look at my husband's faults, but to look at my own. Looking at my own faults has convicted me and has made me shed many tears. How often have I failed the Lord, which means that I failed my husband.

Have you asked God to speak to you? Have you remained quiet enough to hear him speak? Take your eyes off your spouse and lay them at the cross every day. Pray for your spouse and the other person; ask the Lord to take care of it all.

I had to ask myself at the beginninng will I follow God whether he brings my husband home or not? I know that I will, because I desire all that He offers. BUT that didn't mean I didn't get tired.  I remember watching a movie while Josh was gone and crying because the main character felt so lost.  As his face was sprayed with water from a sprinkler he was reminded that the Lord does everything because He loves us...and he yelled, "Would you love me a little less!!"   I knew how that felt; I knew the truth that I could NEVER go through this without God...but I hurt so badly. 

As standers we tend to make our marriages our idols and we want things now and fixed quick. If there is only one bit of advice I can give you it is to seek God with all your heart. Learn to be a man or woman after His own heart and bathe in all the wonderful things He gives us daily, such as our health, our home, food and the ability to face another day.

If you want to give up don't look for approval. Tell it to the Lord. If you believe the Word, you know you cannot get married because He says if you are separated either you reconcile or remain unmarried. You will be no good for your husband or wife if you don't surrender yourself, your family and your marriage to Him.

Allow God to change you and give you wisdom. He loves your spouse and He cares about everything that is happening to you. The enemy will attack you forever even after you are restored. You need to know how to fight the enemy and know the Word of God. Become a student of the Word and walk in victory. When he attacks your mind tell him to "get away from me, because greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world. No weapon formed against me will ever harm me." God says if you commit everything to Him, He will make your plans succeed. However, remember it is His will, not ours.

Many times I was reminded very "harshly" that I could not look to others for approval, as the path of a stander is not well-used.  Forgive me if I offend you in any manner. God's Word will give you the answer and when you don't understand ask Him to clear it up for you.

You are fighting for your family and for salvation. You are fighting so that these generational curses will not be passed on to your children. Many times my children were a driving force in my ability to stand.